The Conversation

America's Muslims come from many traditions and cultures

Written by Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor

According to Islamic studies professor Abbas Barzegar, there are many ways Muslims practice their faith, with some young American Muslims even developing new interpretations of Islamic law.Joana Toro/VIEWpress/Corbis via Getty Images

For people who would like to learn more about Islam, The Conversation is publishing a series of articles, available...

How much do you know about Islam?

Written by Martin La Monica, Director of Editorial Projects and Newsletters, The Conversation U.S.

Congratulations on finishing this series on Understanding Islam! See how much you’ve learned with this quiz based on the material in this series. Answers are at the bottom of the page.

You can read all six articles in this Understanding Islam series on TheConversation.com, or we can deliver them straight to your inbox if you sign up for our...

What is Sharia? Islamic law shows Muslims how to live, and can be a force for progress as well as tool of fundamentalists

Written by Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor

The response to anti-Islamic law bills introduced in 2017 included counterprotests like this one in Seattle.Ted S. Warren/AP Photo

For people who would like to learn more about Islam, The Conversation is publishing a series of articles, available on our website or as six emails delivered every other day, written by Senior Religion and Ethics Editor...

What happens when the COVID-19 vaccines enter the body – a road map for kids and grown-ups

Written by Glenn J Rapsinski, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellow, University of Pittsburgh

COVID-19 vaccines have been proved safe and effective. But it's understandable to have questions. Halfpoint/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

How does a COVID-19 vaccine work in the body? –...

Breathing wildfire smoke can affect the brain and sperm, as well as the lungs

Written by Luke Montrose, Assistant Professor of Community and Environmental Health, Boise State University

A runner wears a respirator on a smoky day in Portland, Oregon, in 2020.Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Wildfires burning in the western U.S. are sending smoke into communities far from the fires themselves, creating hazardous air for days or weeks at a time. A lot of people are wondering: What does breathing all that smoke do to our bodies?

Wildfire...

Drink less, exercise more and take in the air – sage advice on pandemic living from a long-forgotten, and very long, 18th-century poem

Written by Melissa Schoenberger, Associate Professor of English, College of the Holy Cross

Disease and public health confusion were common in 18th-century England.adoc-photos/Corbis via Getty Images

A respiratory disease has spread far and wide. Conflicts at home and abroad pose dire challenges. The public is overwhelmed by questions of what to read and whom to trust as it confronts an ever more complicated world.

I am describing mid-18th...

What is Wicca? An expert on modern witchcraft explains.

Written by Helen A. Berger, Resident Scholar, Brandeis University

Most Wiccans in the U.S. practice alone, though they congregate in large gatherings to conduct rituals and learn from one another.Sarah Swinford/EyeEm via Getty Images

Wicca and witchcraft are popping up in pop culture these days, from teenage witches on TikTok to a Marvel comic superhero called Wiccan. It has even led The New York Times to ask:...

Data privacy laws in the US protect profit but prevent sharing data for public good – people want the opposite

Written by Cason Schmit, Assistant Professor of Public Health, Texas A&M University

People produce mountains of data every day, but not all data is treated the same under the law.Orbon Alija/E+ via Getty Images

In 2021, an investigation revealed that home loan algorithms systematically discriminate against qualified minority applicants. Unfortunately, stories of dubious profit-driven data uses like this are all too common.

Meanwhile...

Is it a crime to forge a vaccine card? And what’s the penalty for using a fake?

Written by Christopher Robertson, Professor of Law, Boston University

A nurse displays a real COVID-19 vaccination card.AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

Schools, businesses, the military and local governments are requiring proof of vaccination. Yet, unlike the European Union and Australia, which have secure digital proof of vaccination, the United States has not created a systematic way to track vaccinations around the nation....

Why is it so difficult to fight domestic terrorism? 6 experts share their thoughts

Written by Mikkel Dack, Assistant Professor of History, Research Director of Rowan Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights, Rowan University

Domestic extremists were involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.AP Photo/John Minchillo

The United States’ first-ever national strategy for countering domestic terrorism calls for better information-sharing among law enforcement agencies and efforts to prevent extremist groups from recruiting online. Published in...